K.V. Johansen

I just went for a walk and the starlings, cardinals, woodpeckers, and crows are all saying they know spring is coming. This is proper weather for this time of year here, anyway: snow, cold nights, bright days.

Ugh!

Attention Canadian politicians

Late Winter, Lower St. Lawrence
Henrietta Mabel May
n.d.

Snow, snow, snow, and tomorrow it will go down to -17. Well, it's only early March; spring can't really be expected till April. The tapping of the trees is nonetheless imminent.

Peaceful woodland is what werewolves like best!

Between you and DeutscheWelle's news briefs, I am on top of everything, or will be once I look up some hard words.

Ahh ... let's see ... yesterday I was trying to stay offline to finish the last polish on Raven, but I thought I'd failed at the staying offline part. Guess I did better than I thought, sicne I messed your ravings. Did finish the book, though! It's quite good.

Soon it will be gardening season and that will mean Things That Must Be Done outside in the evenings no matter how tired I am, so that will help.

What, I missed an eclipse? Why did no one tell me???

Meanwhile I accumulate research books for it.
Thinking about smaller, more manageable projects for the constraints of my current life. More of Hedge and Pony? That depends on you who read and buy books, doesn't it ... They would be fun to write. I have ideas ...

But hey, Raven is done, and the state of the industry being what it is, and the Next Thing being epic fantasy of the kind I love best... well, one needs sustained concentration and time for that; I don't have it. Trying to write those characters and story in this state will just kill them.

I think I am going to start having morning walks, despite being dogless. I feel suffocated for fresh air, being always working or at the off-farm-job. This means giving up my only writing time. By evening, after OFJ, I am too worn out to do anything much, write or even walk.

Slept in. Missed the sunrise. Clear day; windchill -27 according to Env. Canada. Have not been out to confirm this with my nose.

Good morning, #Fellas 😊☕️

This week, Toonie Tuesday and I stand with the brave paratroopers of the #95th Brigade, fighting on the front lines in #Zaporizhzhia
Their courage deserves more than words, it deserves action! ❤️‍🔥
Show your support today! 💪
Watch the video.👀
Like it! Repost it!
Let's Go! 💪

🎯10,900€
The 95th who are taking part in the offensive in Zaporizhzhia urgently need two DJI Matrice4T drones, fiber optic cable spoons, and charging stations to stay effective.
This equipment is needed to take out high value military assets of the invaders.
Be sure to watch the video,❤️& repost
2/3

Where the Colours Bleed to Light
Lee Munn
2024

A reminder of what we are losing to get this cheap shit metal and glass thing open.substack.com/pub/lloydalt...

Bluebirds of Truculence.

The ongoing issue of LLM training chipping away at copyright is exhausting. So many writers whose work has been stolen to train these LLMs responded to the government's consultation, and with every single question it was made abundantly clear that our views & rights didn't matter. Just our words.

The day began at -20, went up to -14 in brilliant sun, is heading down to -18 or so ... but spring is coming. My aunt is talking about tapping the trees by the end of the week.

Hail, Pterry, full of rage, the muse is with thee. Blessed art thou among authors, and blessed is the fruit of thy brain, Discworld.

Hail Pterry, Father of Great A'Tuin, who channeled rage into compassion blessed are thy words.

It would mean the lobbying by big US tech firms had succeeded, and the protests of the UK's creatives had been ignored.

People's work is not the government's to give away.

If you're in the UK and you care about creatives and the creative industries, please write to your MP!

/end

In the House of Lords today, a government minister refused to rule this out.

To be clear, this would amount to legalising theft. It would fly in the face of public opinion on what is fair, and would mean a surrender of British creatives' work by this Labour government.

3/4

There are rumours it is considering introducing a 'commercial research exception' for AI training. This would be disastrous. It would mean handing the life's work of British creatives to AI companies for free, to train their models on.

2/4

🚨 It looks like the UK government is gearing up to upend copyright law in favour of AI companies, legalising the theft of their work.

This is despite creatives' huge protests, and despite previous proposals being roundly rejected by the public.

Please spread the word.

🧵 1/4

You can buy or download a free ebook/PDF copy of 'Beyond the River, Under the Eye of Rome' by Timothy C. Hart, published by @uofmpress.bsky.social, here: www.fulcrum.org/concern/mono...

Danielle Smith uses notwithstanding clause to run red light Calgary, Alberta - Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has once again invoked the notwithstanding clause, something meant for only the most dire times to pass legislation, to get around a small legal probl...

Danielle Smith uses notwithstanding clause to run red light

With these data centres, the US is already seeing: water rationing for people (to the point of being forbidden to shower or cook with it) and skyrocketing electricity bills while data centres have no limits. Increases in cancers and miscarriages b/c of toxic emissions. 24/7 noise from turbines.

Some examples of the risks section 12 poses include that it could: Allow the government to enter into contracts with individuals where doing so would otherwise violate the Conflict of Interest Act; Prevent citizens and journalists from seeking documents under the Access to Information Act; Let mining companies avoid their obligations to prevent corruption under the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act; and Allow preferred companies to ignore the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.

Here's a few other things that could mean, which would impact YOUR HEALTH AND SAFETY as data centres get prioritized over the people living in the communities they're taking over.
theccf.ca/ccf-warns-th...